VIReggae - About Us

About Us

We are an army of one livicated to bringing about change in the world through reggae music. As a child of the 60's, I learned at an early age to appreciate the power that music can have on the mindset of a people. Artists like Bob Dylan enlightened my consciousness as to what was really going on in the world. The knowledge that I acquired through the message contained in songs like 'Blowin' In The Wind' or Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On?' played a tremendous role in formulating my views, my philosophies and my beliefs.

In the early 70's another Bob had a most profound influence on my life..... Bob Marley. Though I had already been exposed to reggae music through artists like Toots & The Maytals or Jimmy Cliff, it was Bob Marley who brought JAH music into my life. Like the protest songs of the 'flower-child' era, this music echoing from the shanties of Kingston, seemed to truly be a 'people's music'. In it could be heard the voice of a people crying out for justice and demanding their fair share.

By 1975 I had graduated from high school, but it wasn't until I heard Peter Tosh's 'Apartheid' that I learned of the oppression still being perpetuated on a people. Songs like 1865 (96' In The Shade) exposed me to the havoc heaped on the world's diverse cultures thorough brutal colonialism. Burning Spear's 'Marcus Garvey' showed me that there was a vibrant pan-african movement long before the days of Malcolm X. My REAL education was just beginning.

But the seminal moment came for me in 1978, when I obtained a copy of Prince Far I's 'Message From The King'. This album opened my eyes to the livity of Rastafari as well as the abundance of JAH's music in Jamaica. On the title track, an artist named 'Culture' bawls: "Black reggae music, is a message from the King". That song launched me on a journey to learn more about the Rastafari faith.

Prince Far I's album also made me dig deeper into the music and to discover 'Jamaican Imports'. Once this flood gate was opened, I was overcome by a tidal wave of conscious rootical albums such as Dennis Brown's "Wolves And Leopards", Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" and "Israel Vibration's "The Same Song". The vibes from the music moved me in ways I had never before felt. I found my self within the music and found the music within my self.

Since that time, I have tried to do what I can to help forward JAH music to the people. Whether as a radio DJ in the 70's or a distributor of Jamaican records in the 80's, the mission has remained the same. The 90's brought the internet, and with it came a new wavelength in which to broadcast JAH music to those who have ears to hear and want to hear.

In 1998, IREGGAE.COM - "A Website Livicated to Change Through the Word, Sound and Power of Reggae Music", was launched. Several months later, we began broadcasting 'The Uprising', a weekly program featuring the latest and greatest in roots, reggae and conscious dancehall music. The new millennium brought with it the dawning of a new day. For just as the glow of the 'roots revival' of the 90's was fading, there was a new sound resonating in the air. Real roots reggae music was alive and well and flourishing on the island of St. Croix.

Over the next 4 years, the roots music of the Virgin Islands found a home at IREGGAE. The music of St. Croix gradually seeped its way into The Uprising to the point where now, seldom a week goes by without at least one 'cruzial' selection finding its way into the playlist. There is almost always some VI Reggae on the charts with no less than 5 albums being included in IREGGAE's Top 10 Albums Of 2004.

As conscious music continued to erupt from the Virgin Islands, the amount of information about STX music available at IREGGAE grew to well over 100 pages. IREGGAE has always featured conscious righteous music regardless of where it comes from. That will continue in the days yet to come. In the dark and stormy times in which we find ourselves, the music of St. Croix is a pure beacon of light. To help beam that light to the four corners of the earth, we present to you VI REGGAE.